I'm thinking, based on how many 10's billions of US money that has literally lost in Iraq, we should have told those with their hands out for bailouts that they get their money as soon as we find our unaccounted billions in Iraq.

And now a story, that if you just read the first few lines, you'd think, "Hm, Iraq is trying to reconcile with its factions." But no --

It was seen by Bush administration officials as a breakthrough when Iraqi lawmakers in February passed a law permitting the release of tens of thousands of people who were jailed during Iraq’s worst years of sectarian violence.

The amnesty law was regarded in Washington as necessary if the various ethnic, religious and political factions within Iraq’s government and population were ever to achieve some measure of reconciliation.

A story posted by Reuters on the day the law passed suggested diplomats and military leaders assigned to Iraq were a little more cautious.

The news service reported that a joint statement from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Multi-National Forces in Iraq stated, “There is still much important work ahead for the people of Iraq ... There is also still more to learn about how this legislation will be implemented.”

Ten months later we have learned quite a bit. Although the legislation was primarily intended for people who had been detained — often without being charged — during mass roundups by security forces, it has been extended to provide amnesty for Iraqis suspected of stealing money from the United States and coalition countries....

Friggin' 690 corruption cases closed.

And to think, when Paul Bremer went to Iraq to remake their laws and institute his infamous 100 orders, his office didn't undo the one mentioned in this article: "... a pre-invasion statute allowing Cabinet ministers to block investigations at their ministries ..."